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Episode 05, Friday 14 March , 2008

Wise Words - Episode 5

What are the origins of 'dude' ? Spencer, QLD

‘Dude’ is a slang term that came into vogue in New York in the early 1880s. At that time it was used to describe ‘a dandy’ or ‘a swell’; in other words, a man who affected ‘an exaggerated fastidiousness in dress, speech, and deportment’ (Oxford English Dictionary). At that time it was a versatile word that could appear in a number of forms: dudedom, dudeness, dudery, dudism, dudish — there was even a ‘dudine’ - a female dude.

No one really knows where the word comes from but I have a theory because I’ve seen descriptions of ‘subdued dudes’ and I wonder whether ‘dude’ is a shortening of ‘subdued’.

Why do Americans pronounce missile and futile as a 'sill' or 'till' sound? John, SA

It is clear from early pronouncing dictionaries, that the American pronunciation of words like missile, futile etc (with the stress on the first syllable and with a short vowel in the second syllable) is the earlier one. Increasingly, British and Australian English speakers have been moving away from this pronunciation towards a long vowel (diphthong) in the second syllable. However, there are still a few words that haven’t yet changed, at least for some speakers; for example, many still pronounce imbecile with a short vowel (i.e. as if it ended in ‘sill’).